Clean energy investment must be 50% higher for the 1.5˚C Paris global warming target than for 2˚C

The sums envisaged here are in the same order of magnitude as the “clean trillion” analysis of CERES. For context, annual investment in global energy was $1,700 bn in 2016 (IEA). And as ever, these studies do not subtract the enormous financial benefits of avoided climate damage, which mean there is no net cost to society, and rather a substantial gain.

Even if we ignore this, we do not need substantial new funds: just switched funds. As Prof Sam Fankhauser, director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, tells Carbon Brief: “The main thing is redirecting existing energy investment from fossil fuels to renewables. So no surprise, then, that accelerating clean investment will overtake declining fossil fuel investment within 10 years.”

Image: Carbon Brief plot of data in original paper, re-edited for visibility